Generation X Memory Lane: Filing Through The Card Catalog

You think back to what, for you, are 'the good old days'. Now, depending on your age it could be that 'ol Model T (really?? You remember the Model T?). Maybe it's when you got that first color TV set (Living color according to NBC's peacock). Or it might be getting that first car that, well, they no longer make.

And if you're one of what they call Generation X, you can join the club of us good 'ol boys and girls. For instance, if you looking eyeball-to-eyeball at 40, you could well be the generation that looks back fondly at filing through the card catalog.

In fact, if you say 'card catalog' to your kids, you'll probably get a blank stare.

But you remember (and so do I and other, ah, old folks). It might have been at the school library or the town/city library. You know the author, you know the title and still...looking, looking, looking through that little drawer with the not so little file. It's gotta be here somewhere!

Now, of course, its all digital. A tap on the computer screen and off you go, down that aisle, around that corner, two shelves up and bingo! Robert Louis Stevenson. (Ok, ok, if it's Robert Louis Stevenson, it's definitely the school library. If it's Stephen King, it's the city).

So for me, if the card catalog is going the way of the village smithy and the 8-track player, so be it. That, as they say, is progress.

But please, don't ever do away with the library (or the the book store). That wouldn't be progress. That would be simply sad and regretful.